“Morality is not the doctrine of how we may make ourselves happy, but how we may make ourselves worthy of happiness.”-Immanuel Kant The ethics of Aristotle taught young men his virtues as a moral code and as key to happiness until 529 C.E., when Byzantine Emperor Justinian I converted the…

Fiction — “No adultery is bloodless. ”— Natalia Ginzburg Afterward, they lay coiled in each other’s arms. Downstairs, the band shrieked a bad cover of a James Brown number that competed with a chugging window air conditioner. Aaron nuzzled Doris’ neck, just below an ear. …

I see cars, jammed side by side as far as my restricted view permits me to see through a narrow-slatted window in the rest home rec room. A perfect light, light from a photographer’s dream world, contrasts the cars in gleam and shadow. In such light, I see how the…

I suppose you’ve heard about what that Bauer boy did with the Waters girl that got him sent to prison. Yes? Then you must know that Gloria Waters and Nick Ricci became a couple while Conrad Bauer was put away in LaGrange prison for statutory rape. …

Facebook, Twitter (!?) and social media in general, do not offer a forum for robust debate on contentious subjects, making it necessary to keep discussions focused narrowly on select topics. Nowhere is that more evident than in arguments over “Gun Rights” vs. “Gun Control.” In those discussions, pro-gun advocates (and…

“There is no monopoly on becoming a millionaire. If you’re jealous of those with more money, don’t just sit there and complain — do something to make more money yourself.” “They say that if you give your children too much, they don’t get the joy out of work. They just…

“For what a man had rather were true, he more readily believes.” — Francis Bacon “Because it takes nothing on faith, science is inherently antiauthoritarian, and a great equalizer of political power. That is why it is under attack.” -Shawn Otto, The War on Science, p. 41, Minneapolis (2016 ) …

I’ve almost finished reading Revolutionary Characters, by historian Gordon S. Wood, and have recently read biographies on George Washington and Benjamin Franklin. I intend to squeeze in Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Alexander Hamilton as soon as I can acquire the books, and I’ll look up the others on the…

In William Shakespeare’s time, the depiction on stage of a young, respectable, unmarried woman ran counter to social conventions. When playwrights presented contemporary works or modernized Greek Drama, they changed the character from female to male, or — where the character’s gender gave the play its form and plot —…